Drying-tower



W. L. McLAUGHLIN.

DRYING TOWER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17, 1919.

1 ,359, 1 88, Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I w. L. McLAUGHLlN.

DRYING TOWER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. I7, 1919. 1,359,188. Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

' 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

Original application filed September 25, 1918, Serial No. 255,618. Divided and this application filed January 17, 1919.

' To 'all whom it may) concern:

.it has been necesssiil'y 0 Be it known that I, WILSON L. MoL'AUon- LIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drying-Towers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for drying comminuted fuel or similar granular material. The subject matter of this application was first disclosed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 255,618, filed Sept. 25, a division.

An object in the construction of the device herein disclosed is to provide apparatus adapted to quickly and economically remove the moisture from granular or comminuted material. While the device was designed for the treatment of coal, which, in view of its composition and physical characteristics requires careful handling in removing excess of moisture therefrom, it .may readily be adapted to other uses with slight changes.

In order to secure eflicient and complete pulverization of materials such as coal, it is necessary that substantially all uncombined water shall be removed therefrom, and to accomplish the desired result commercially, to subject the material to a high heat. wever, when coal is so treated, considerable of the valuable volatile matter thereof has been driven off thus reducing its fuel value.

By the use of my apparatus I am enabled to continuously carry out'the drying process and remove all excess moisture from the coal without subjecting the same to the drying heat for but a short period. Furthermore, to avoid any oxidizing action I may utilize a heated, non-oxidizmg gas as the drying medium, but this is not important as the coal remains in a' heated area for only a short time. The advantageous resultis secured because the coal isconducted 'to the top' of a drying tower, distributed thereacross, discharged thereinto and permitted to fall through a tortuous path in opposition to arising current of heated as. In this manner each particle of the coa is sub.-

1918, of which this application. is

Serial H0. 271,639.

jected to a current of dry, hot gas and guickl robbed of its moisture. The coal lmme iately passes out of the zone of heat.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein, Y Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view partly in elevation showing a device constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the tower,'the view being taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertiial sgctional view taken on the line 3-3 of ig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view through one of the bafiles or deflector plates, and,

Fig. 5 is a side elevation showing the distributing device which I prefer to employ.

ig. 1, I have shown a furnace associated with the dryingtower, the furnace being of a type adaptedto consume fuel of the character produced by the apparatus disclosed in m tofore referred to. However, any other type of furnace might be employed to advantage. In the furnace shown the fuel in powdered form is suitably mixed with air and introduced through the burner nozzle 10, into the combustion chamber 11, the products of combustion passing into the flue 12, thence upwardly through the passa way 13, into the flue 14, thence downwardI through the opening 15, into the flue 16, thence downwardly through the ort 17 into the drying tower. A damper 1 may be placedat the end of the flue 16, if desired, in order to control the draft.

The drying tower 18, may be of any desired height and cross sectional shape. In the construction shown the tower is rectangular in cross section'and is provided with a plurality of transverse shafts 19, having plates or baflles 20, secured thereto by means of U-shaped bolts 21,.a's best shown in 4. The shafts or attached plates or b es are located in staggered relation, as indicated in Fig. 1, the. object being to cause the granular material to follow a zigzag or tortuous pathas it falls from the co-pending application here- 1 top to the bottom of the tower. In practice.

somewhat depending upon the degree of fineness of the material but will correspond substantially to the angle of repose of ranular material in a similar condition.

y providing for the described action two objects are gained: first, the material falling onto the heaps on each bafile is projected at an' angle toward the next ba-flie, and, second, the surfaces of the baflles are protected against abrasion and wear.

However, it is desirable at times to dump the plates and discharge all the accumulated material. To accomplish this result I pro vide cranks 23, on the ends of the shafts 19, the cranks in each line being connected by a rod 24, which in turn is connected at one end to a bell crank 25, mounted on a vertical shaft 26. The different bell cranks are adapted for operation in unison by vertical reciprocation of a shaft 27, effected by means of a screw 28, and hand Wheel 29. The connection between the "ertical shaft 27 and the arm of the bell crank 25, is by a pin 30, carried by the shaft and a slot 31, in

the arm of the bell crank.

Material to be dried is conducted to ,the upper end of the tower by means of a conveyer 32, the material being discharged into a conduit 33, and conducted to one end of a distributing conveyer, best shown in Fig. 5. This device comprises a casing 34, with which the conduit 33 communicates, the cas ing being provided with a diagonally or helically disposed longitudinal slot 35. Mounted within-the casing 34, is a screwconveyer 36, adapted to be rotated by a pulley 37, which may be connected by a belt 38, to the motor'39, shown in Fig. 1.' As the material is delivered into the casing 34, it is dischar ed into and distributed across the upper end of the tower, being directed first onto the upper bafile by means of a deflector or chute 40. The material after passing downwardly through the tower falls on the inclined floor 41, and is discharged through the spout 42, for subsequent treatment. The velocity of the gas or products of combustion through the tower is controlled first, by

regulating the draft by means of the dam-.

per 16, and second, by controlling the speed of the motor 39. This motor serves to oper..

ate an exhaust fan, the inlet pipe 43, of which is connected to the top of the tower and the outlet pipe 44, of which may be connected to a suitable dust separator, not shown.

In operation the material being treated after having been reduced'to a suitable degree of fineness is delivered by means of the conveyer 32, to the top of the tower and discharged thereinto. The material then falls in the tower its fall being broken by the baliles described whereby each of the particles is separated and subjected to the waterabsorbing action of a dry current of nonoxidizing gas. This current of gas is generated as described by allowing the products of combustion from the furnace to be directed into the lower end of the tower.

After the material is passed through the length of the tower it falls on the inclined floor 41, and is suitably discharged. Any material. which is sufficiently light to be carried in suspension by the rising current of gas is discharged through the fan and removed from the current of gas in a suitable separator.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for drying comminuted material, the combination of a drying tower, means for introducing material in a uniform sheet across the upper end of the same comprising a spiral conveyer and a casing having a spiral edge, means for introducing heated air into the bottom of the tower,-and a plurality of baflies arranged at difi'erent levels and in staggered relation for obstructing the fall of the material through the tower.

2. In apparatus for drying comminuted material, the combination of a drying tower, an elevator for raising material to the top of the tower, a conveyer provided with means -which distributes the material uniformly across the tower, means for introducing heat into the bottom of the-tower, and baffles which extend across the tower in the same direction as said conveyer, at difi'erent levels and in staggered relation to each other.

3. In apparatus for drying comminuted material, the combination of a drying tower, an elevator to conduct material to the upper end of the tower, a chute to receive material from the elevator, a screw-conveyer extending across the tower having a spiral slot through which the material is discharged into the towerso that such distribution is substantially uniform from one side of the tower to the other, a plurality of battles in said tower adapted to obstruct the fall of the material 'therethrough, and means for introducing heated air into the tower.

4. In apparatus for drying comminuated material, the combination of a drying tower, means for introducing material into the top of the tower, a plurality of parallel shafts extending through the tower at different levels, baflle-plates arranged in the towers, U-bolts for securing said baffie 'plates to said shafts, cranks formed on the ends of said shafts, pull rods' attached to said cranks, rocking members connected with said pull rods, and means for simultaneously rocking said members so as to tilt the baflies.

5. In apparatus for drying finelyco'lm, troducing a current of heated air at the botminut-ed fuel, the combination of a drying tom of said tower to flow counter to the matower, means for introducing material in a teriahand means for controlling the veloc- -10 uniform sheet across the top thereof comity of said current of air so as not to over- 5 prising a spiral conveyer arranged across come the tendency of the material to fall.

said tower, means for obstructing the fall of material withinthe tower, means for in- WILSON L. MCLAUGHLIN. 

